1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate methods, systems, and apparatus for temporarily associating beverage distribution with RFID devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Systems exist for providing a cup or other beverage container with an RFID device, then using that RFID device to monitor such things as permitted numbers or volumes of beverage fills, or of customer preferences associated with the user or owner of the beverage container. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,850 provides a system and method for actuating valves of a dispensing system to dispense a beverage into a container based on information obtained from an RFID tag coupled to a beverage container. U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,850 is incorporated by reference herein.
Unfortunately, given the relatively high price of RFID tags, it may be impractical to perform the method of the U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,850 or other similar methods in environments where beverage containers are only used once. This includes, for example, in quick service restaurants, convenience stores, highway rest stops, and the like.